Fluoxetine experiences

[Midnightlove]

So my citalopram stopped working after about 15 years, I'd slowly gone up to the highest dose. I've been put on fluoxetine and have been on it for 3 weeks now. I had been suffering really bad panic attacks and anxiety when I switched meds. The forst week wasn't great but started to feel like they were having an effect by week 2. Week 3 I've slowly gotten worse and anxiety and panic attacks have come back with a bang 🙈 can anyone reassure me that they will eventually take effect? Or does it sound like they aren't working for me?

Hey...im back on fluoxetine 2 weeks now after being off them for 6 months...it takes time for them to properly take effect and you will have times when you feel worse as if they arnt working but they will....im also suffering anxiety and panic attacks and feel awful atm but im so hopeful they will work soon...hang in there...we have got this xx

Thank you 😊 hopefully you will get some relief from it all soon too!

How are you feeling now? I'm still not feeling any relief 😪

Heyy...im feeling more settled but ive had to take a second antidepressant called mitripzapine to help me sleep...it has worked and i do feel im improving...what dose of fluoxitine are you on?

I got my dose increased to 40mg just over 2 weeks ago.. so 6 weeks altogether. Didn't find my last gp very helpful to be honest

I’m on 60mg fluoxetine, have titrated from 20-40mg, then 40-60mg since December 2024.
it has taken a long time to work for me, but I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I started it after sertraline stopped working for me.
i was all set to bin off the fluoxetine a few weeks ago as I wasn’t feeling any relief, but my GP said he’d rather I try the maximum dosage before coming off it and trying a different antidepressant.
Hang on in there and speak to your GP if you’re feeling awful. Xx

I'm on 40mg of Fluoxetine and 30mg amitriptyline it's honestly saved my life.

It's taken a long time to settle. It's taken a lot of work to get where I am today. I've been to recovery college, CBT, DBT workshops and Art therapy. Meds alone don't work but they got me out the door.

I hope you feel the effects soon.

I'm just at the point where I don't know if I feel so awful because the fluoxetine has given me heightened anxiety as a side effect, or if it's just not working 😫 I'm definitely feeling ready to bin it off, but at the same time if I knew in a couple of weeks I'd feel better, I'd stay on it. When did you notice a change after starting the 60mg? X

Thank you, I really hope so too 🙁 did it take a while to work for you at the beginning? X

I started on 20mg and it took a good few weeks to notice any difference. It's only recently changed to 40mg because of recently life events (big stressors). The amitriptyline is mostly for nerve pain but also helps depression.

I couldn't take sertraline or citalipram. The side effects from those made me really sick and fuzzy. Also gave me zappy pains in my head and the sweats. Mirtazapine made me sleepy like a zombie and I couldn't function throughout the day (which isn't great with two children).

For fluoxetine to work it needs to build up in your body which takes around 2-3 weeks, it also needs another few weeks to come at a point where rate of exit is same as rate of addition. So at 5-6 weeks if you are not feeling better then you can go up the dosage.

Fluoxetine is an SSRI and it works by stopping the reuptake of available serotonin. So in order for it work successfully you should be doing activities which makes you produce some serotonin - could be having a good sleep, exercise, sitting in the sun or anything that works for you. Some doctors prescribe therapy as it might work for some.

Also try not to consume alcohol as it can further drop your serotonin. Alcohol along with fluoxetine can cause anxiety specially in the initial months.

I noticed a change after about 3 weeks, I’m still not 100% though, this is a slow working medication for sure

Thanks.. the last few days have actually been pretty good, it's 3 weeks since increasing my dose so hopefully starting to work now 🤞